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Tag: NWC

  • 10th NASS: We have no input in the emergence of principal officers – APC,NWC

    10th NASS: We have no input in the emergence of principal officers – APC,NWC

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Abdullahi Adamu, has revealed that the National Working Committee (NWC) has no input in the emergence of the leaders of the National Assembly.

    Recall that the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Felix Morka, had announced the ratification of the zoning formula proposed by the President Bola Tinubu at the end of its meeting on May 8, 2023.

    However, Adamu, who chaired the meeting, made a U-turn on Tuesday when he disowned the leaders of the National Assembly.

    According to him,  the APC NWC had no hand in the emergence of Senator Godswill Akpabio as the Senate President and the emergence of Tajudeen Abbas as the Speaker of the House Representatives, as well as other principal officers.

    He made this known during a meeting with APC governors held at the secretariat of the party

    His said: “You will get an update on the National Assembly sharing of powers, particularly the leadership of the chambers. The election of the principal officers of the Senate by the Senate President and Deputy Senate President. The election of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives have been determined and announced.

    “I had a courtesy call on Saturday from the President of the Senate and his Deputy. The following Sunday, I received the Speaker and his Deputy Speaker coming to me for Sallah’s homage.

    “But, I am just hearing a rumour now from the online media that there have been some announcements in the Senate and House of Representatives. The national headquarters of the party of the NWC has not given any such information or communicated about the choice of offices.

    “And until we formally resolve and communicate with them in writing which is the norm and practice, it is not our intention to break away from traditions. So whatever announcement done either by the President of the Senate, Deputy Senate President, Speaker or Deputy Speaker, is not from this Secretariat.

    “We are going to formally inform you that we are going to have a caucus, and for quite a time, there has been no caucus in place. The caucus has been reconstituted according to the constitution of APC.

    “And we will be discussing that with you as governors, you know your states more than we know it. Even if we come from the same state, the leadership is in you as governors.”

  • APC, NWC: Tinubu endorses Akpabio, Tajudeen as Senate president, Speaker of 10th NASS

    APC, NWC: Tinubu endorses Akpabio, Tajudeen as Senate president, Speaker of 10th NASS

    Nigeria’s President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu had a meeting with the leadership of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress on Friday in Abuja to deliberate on their choice of senate president and House of Assembly Speaker.

    It was gathered that the meeting which had in attendance the National Chairman of APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, Deputy National Chairman, North, Senator Abubakar Kyari, Deputy National Chairman, South, Emma Eneukwu and the National Secretary of the party, Senator Iyiola Omisore took place at the Defence House in Abuja.

    A reliable source who attended the meeting but doesn’t want his name in print said that Tinubu prefers Akpabio and while Senator Jibrin Barau will serve as his deputy.

    Also, the meeting reached a compromise on the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, with Abbas Tajudeen giving the nod to preside over the 10th House.

    The source said: “It is true Asiwaju met with Adamu, Omisore, Kyari and Eneukwu today (Friday). They have agreed that Akpabio will be the next Senate President while Jibrin will be his deputy. TJ (Abbas Tajudeen) will be the next Speaker.)”

    The source added that the North Central would be compensated with the position of Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

    Recall that Adamu had hinted on Wednesday at the end of the NWC meeting that the ruling party alongside the president-elect would agree on a consensus in the zoning of the leadership positions of the next Assembly.

    “That is not what today’s meeting is all about. When we do the zoning meeting, we don’t just go alone as a party. Zoning is to take along the person who has the mandate of this country, the president-elect, Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu, we want to take him along. He travelled after the election and he came back only last week and we have to carry him along.

    “And we cannot stop those who are ambitious or zoning interests, or individual interests, we cannot deny them. And as long as that is there, we have to find a way, persuasively, to reach some level of consensus. That’s what we are working on. It is not a one-day affair,” Adamu had said.

  • Suspending soft targets cowardice, Anyim blasts PDP

    Suspending soft targets cowardice, Anyim blasts PDP

    Former Senate President, Senator Anyim Pius, has described his suspension and other leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party , PDP, by its National Working Committee, as an act of cowardice on soft targets while afraid of those that daily demonise them.

    Senator Anyim also said that many members of the PDP intentionally and proudly worked against the party including members of the NWC.

    The former Senate President who is responding to his suspension and other party chieftains in a statement stated, “It is clear that arising from the leadership style of the NWC, many members, intentionally and proudly, worked against the party including members of the NWC.

    It smacks of arrogance for the NWC to put up a bold face instead of showing remorse and being sober for leading the party to such colossal loss in the 2023 general elections

    “Therefore, it is a display of innate cowardice for NWC to choose soft targets to suspend and fear those that daily demonise them.

    Recall the NWC of the PDP suspended the former Secretary to Government of Federation alongside former Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose; Prof. Dennis Ityavyar, Benue, and Dr Aslam Aliyu, Zamfara, among others.

    However, referred Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State to its National Disciplinary Committee over alleged anti-party activities.

    The former federal scribe noted that he thought the concern of the NWC now would be how to undertake a thorough self-examination on why they performed so poorly in the 2023 elections rather than seek to further divide the party by shifting blames adding that the action of the NWC is disappointing.

    He further remarked that “It smacks of arrogance for the NWC to put up a bold face instead of showing remorse and being sober for leading the party to such colossal loss in the 2023 general elections, thereby dashing the hopes and expectations of party members and indeed Nigerians.

    Suspending soft targets cowardice, Anyim blasts PDP

    “It is difficult to explain why the NWC is in a hurry to suspend leaders of the party without recourse to a fair hearing, without which their action is null and void.”

    On the Ebonyi State governorship election, the former parliamentarian accused the NWC of the PDP, imposing a candidate from the sitting governor’s zone, violating the zoning arrangement in the state.

    He maintained that “The NWC imposed a candidate from the sitting Governor’s zone, contrary to the zoning formula in the state. Every effort to let the NWC see reason fell on deaf ears.

    He further explained that “On the day the party’s presidential rally was held in Ebonyi State, I told Dr Ayu that I was boycotting the rally because I cannot support the candidate they imposed on Ebonyi State. Dr Ayu did nothing. He did not care even though I did not attend the Ebonyi rally.

    While advising the party he expected that the NWC should reverse itself in the interest of the party adding that it may wish to know that he is proud to have supported the APC Gubernatorial candidate in Ebonyi State to win the election because that conforms to the equitable formula in Ebonyi State.

  • My suspension from PDP null, void – Nnamani

    My suspension from PDP null, void – Nnamani

    Sen. Chimaroke Nnamani (PDP-Enugu) says his suspension from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the National working committee (NWC) is null and void.

    Nnamani, who represents Enugu-East at the National Assembly, said this in a statement in Abuja.
    “The PDP suspension without hearing is incurably messy and will collapse,” he said.

    Nnamani said the decision to pitch tent with Asawaju Bola Tinubu was caused by the PDP refusal to comply with its own constitution that key political offices should be rotated between South and North to guarantee harmony, peace, fairness, equity and justice.

    “As it is now, there is no fairness, justice and equity in the PDP because both the Presidential Candidate and the National Chairman are from the same region.

    “ I am only exercising my right for freedom of choice and association. On this score, I stand with Tinubu,” he said.

    Nnamani urged the leadership of the PDP to put its house in order, saying that his suspension from the party lacked both moral and constitutional backing.

  • 2023 Elections: APC, NWC approve Bola Tinubu’s manifesto

    2023 Elections: APC, NWC approve Bola Tinubu’s manifesto

    All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has presented his 2023 presidential election to the leadership of the party for review and ratification.

    Members of the National Working Committee (NWC), the Progressives Governors’ Forum and the Presidential Campaign Council (PPC), which received the draft, resolved to work together for the victory of Tinubu, and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima.

    Meanwhile, the party harmonised and subsequently approved the manisfesto and the nationwide presidential campaign programme proposed by the PCC was discussed and approved too.

    The leadership of the party, NWC members, House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, 13 governors and a deputy governor, were locked in a room for more than three hours working out strategies ahead of the 2023 polls in the country.

    Also at the meeting were Campaign Director-General and Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong; Governors Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa), Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Abubakar San- Bello (Niger), AbdulRahaman AbdulRazaq (Kwara), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), Babagana Zulum (Borno), Dave Umahi (Ebonyi), Mai Mala Bun (Yobe) and deputy governor of Zamfara State.

    The parley was also witnessed by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, Deputy Director-General (Operations); Hadiza Bala Usman Deputy Director-General (Admin); James Faleke (Secretary); Babatunde Ogala (SAN); Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi; Abike Dabiri and for APC National Publicity Secretary, Lanre Issa-Onilu.

    Campaign spokesman, Festus Keyamo (SAN), Minister of State for Labour and Employment, said Tinubu has demonstrated an uncanny capacity for promoting inclusion and team spirit.

    He told reporters that the meeting resolved to work together so that the platform can sustain its winning steak.

    Keyamo said: “What you have seen here is the meeting of different layers of the party. It was the meeting of the major stakeholders of the party. The Progressive Governors, the NWC, and the PCC with the presidential candidates. We are a very united party with all the organs of the party working in unison towards one purpose.

    “All we did today during the meeting was review the draft of our manifesto. Our candidate is not the type that operates on his own. He carries everybody along. He presented the draft of the manifesto to all the stakeholders that looked at it. And guess what, almost all the stakeholders gave that draft more than 90 per cent pass mark.”

    The spokesman said a committee would be set up to consider major highlights for easy communication and digestion by the electorate.

  • BREAKING: APC NWC, Tinubu, govs meet over controversial PCC list [Photos]

    BREAKING: APC NWC, Tinubu, govs meet over controversial PCC list [Photos]

    The tripartite committee meeting of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) consisting of its National Working Committee (NWC), Governors and the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) is ongoing at the Hilton Transcrop Hotel, Abuja.

    The meeting, a follow-up to last Wednesday’s, is to harmonise the party’s campaign council list, review and approve the nationwide presidential campaign programme prepared by the Governor Simon Lanlong’s PCC.

    Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, all the NWC members, Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, Governors and PCC members are in attendance.

    The meeting, which was to hold on Tuesday was postponed due to the National Awards ceremony.

    See Photos:

    Details to follow…

  • A leopard will never change its spots – FG reacts to money returned by NWC of PDP

    A leopard will never change its spots – FG reacts to money returned by NWC of PDP

    The Federal Government says it will be impossible for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to change from its vice of looting the public treasury, if it ever has access to power.

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said this in an interview with NAN on Thursday in Arusha, Tanzania.

    The minister was reacting to media reports that some members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP had returned N122.4 million paid into their accounts by the main opposition party leader.

    There had been media reports that the PDP’s National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, allegedly paid more than N100 million to the NWC members after the party’s primaries.

    It was alleged that the money was from the more than N10 billion realised by the party from nomination fees paid by aspirants.

    Reacting to the development, the minister said: “if a man can steal from himself, he will steal without any restrain from other people.

    “The problem is that PDP will never change and like they say, a leopard will never change its spots.

    “When PDP lost elections in 2015, they admitted that they had learnt their lessons, but obviously, they have learnt nothing.

    “God forbid, if they ever have access to public purse again, they will leave no kobo there.

    “We know what we met when we assumed office in 2015, we are still wailing from it.

    “We hope Nigerians have now seen from this scandal the intention of PDP if they ever have access to public treasury’’.

    Mohammed said certain questions should be raised from the development, including, what informed the payment in the first place and if it was the first time such money was paid.

    He said the party should also be questioned on the source of the money and whether it was from the slush fund it had in its possession.

    Mohammed recalled that as a member of NWC of the then Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN) and later the All Progressives Congress (APC), no fund was ever paid into his account.

    “Never did I remember that any form of money, call it, accommodation, or whatsoever, was ever paid into the account of any member of the NWC of either ACN or APC,’’ he said.

    The minister is in Arusha for the 65th meeting of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)’s Commission for Africa and a forum on “Rebuilding Africa’s Tourism Resilience for Inclusive Socio-Economic Development’’.

    The event is being attended by no fewer than 40 African Ministers of Tourism, UNWTO leadership, and the Organisation’s representatives from other blocs.

  • Housing allowance passed due process, PDP NWC insists

    Housing allowance passed due process, PDP NWC insists

    The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) insisted that the money paid to its national officers was not a bribe but housing allowance that passed through due process.

    This is contained in a statement issued by the Party National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba on Tuesday night after the party NWC meeting in Abuja.

    Ologunagba said that the NWC at its meeting on Tuesday, thoroughly examined the strange publication by a particular newspaper which reported that the housing allowance legally paid by the Party to its national officers was bribed.

    “After a thorough scrutiny of the payment by the party, the NWC in session established that the payment was not a bribe but housing allowance.

    “Allowance duly approved and paid to national officers of the party in line with the conditions of service and entitlement of the staff and principal officers of the party.

    “The NWC also established that the payment passed through due process procedures of the party in accordance with all extant financial regulations and payment approval processes of the party.

    “It Is also instructive to state that the national officers who returned their housing allowances equally confirmed and affirmed at the meeting that the payment was not bribe.

    “They affirmed it was their due entitlements in line with the Conditions of service and entitlement of the staff and principal officers of the party,” Ologunagba said.

    He added that considering the above, the NWC resolved to conduct an extensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding the said publication by the newspaper of Sept. 26.

    He said that the newspaper publication was clearly targeted to cause disaffection among members and stakeholders of the party as well as bring the party to disrepute before its teeming supporters all over the world particularly in an election year.

    “Consequently, the NWC has set up an Investigative Committee headed by the National Legal Adviser to conduct an inquiry into the source of the said malicious and injurious publication.”

    The committee according to Ologunagba has one week to investigate the matter and report back to the NWC for further action.

  • APC crisis deepens as Chairman blasts Tinubu for violating campaign council agreement

    APC crisis deepens as Chairman blasts Tinubu for violating campaign council agreement

     

    The National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress has written a letter to its presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is currently in the United Kingdom alleging that the candidate breached his agreement with the party when he unilaterally released the Presidential Campaign Council list without recourse to the national secretariat of the party.

    In the letter signed by the party’s chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu queried why Tinubu breached their collective agreement.

    Below is the full letter:

    DRAFT

    His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu

    (Jagaban Borgu)

    Presidential Candidate of the

    All Progressives Congress (APC)

    Presidential Campaign Office,

    Herbert Macaulay Way,

    Central Business District,

    Abuja, FCT.

     

    RELEASE OF THE TINUBU-SHETTIMA PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN COUNCIL LIST

    On behalf of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), I present my compliments to Your Excellency, and have the honour to convey to you, in truth and respect, the Committee’s opinion and position, regarding the above-mentioned subject matter, with a view to having a clear understanding about the respective roles and responsibilities of the principal organs of the Party charged with the duties of conducting the campaigns in the forth-coming general elections.

    This correspondence has become necessary in view of developments that took place over the last few days around the purported appointments into the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) that was announced precipitately by officials of the Council, without making a recourse to the NWC for approval. All along, the NWC had been disposed towards the campaign in a cooperative spirit that is driven by the overall interest of the Party and the singular desire of victory for our candidates, in the persons of your esteemed self and your running mate.

    It is against this background that the NWC received with astonishment and regret, the press release by the PCC on 23rd September, 2022, in which a purported list of appointees was announced, which effectively served as the approved roster of participants in the Party’s Presidential Campaign Council. The purported list not only came as a complete surprise to the NWC and the Party’s leadership, but also contravened the principles and purposes of the arrangements that you and I had led towards the adoption of the Organogram of the PCC, and its principal officials.

    Perhaps it has become necessary owing to the passage of time, that I should draw Your Excellency’s attention to the agreements that we reached in principle around the final adoption of the PCC list, based on the understanding that it was a work in progress, until such a time that the Joint NWC/PCC Committee that was established to formalise the structure and populate the list, submits its report.

    Your Excellency will no doubt recall our meetings in my office and also at the NWC Conference Room at the Party’s National Secretariat, on Wednesday, 7th September, 2022, during which we discussed the details of the Organogram of the PCC and its composition, as a collaborative project between the two entities. Our recollection of those meetings clearly leaves us in no doubt that a breach of agreement has occurred, and that a return to the principles of cooperation and respect for each other is required.

  • Just In: PDP BoT Chairman to resign as NWC members revolt against Ayu

    Just In: PDP BoT Chairman to resign as NWC members revolt against Ayu

     

    Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),
    Walid Jibrin, is set to resign from his position to move party forward.

    It was also gathered that some members of the PDP national working committee (NWC) met in Abuja on Tuesday and resolved not to attend any meeting presided over by Iyorchia Ayu, the national chairman, henceforth.

    Jibrin has held the position for six years after taking over from Haliru Bello who was removed in 2016.

    Sources close to the BoT chairman said on Wednesday that Jibrin has already briefed senior members of the party on his decision to quit.

    “He said it is in the best interest of the party since there are complaints of regional lop-sidedness,” one of the sources said.

    Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the party, is from Adamawa (north-east), Jibrin hails from Nasarawa (north-central), and Ayu is from Benue (north-central).

    In 2021, Ayu said he would resign as PDP national chairman if a northerner became the party’s presidential candidate.

    However, despite calls for his resignation, the national chairman has stayed put, saying that those who want him out of office “are children”.

    TheNewsGuru com, (TNG) recalls that some allies of governor of Rivers, Nyesom Wike, had demanded that the PDP national chairman step down, as a precondition for resolving their rift with Abubakar.

    Insiders said some of the stakeholders welcomed Jibrin’s decision but also insisted that should Ayu resign from his position too “in the interest of equity”.

    They said Abubakar must commit to stay in office for one term if elected president because power has been in the north for eight years.

    “The stakeholders said now that President Muhammadu Buhari has been in office for eight years, it would not make sense for power to be in the north for another eight years,” another source said.

    With Ayu’s woes unending, some members of the NWC have decided to move against him.

    They are accusing him of failing to disclose that he got money from some presidential aspirants for the convention in May.

    A national officer who attended the meeting said many NWC members have lost confidence in Ayu.

    He said many are unhappy that Ayu called aggrieved members of the party “children” in the midst of peace efforts.